120 MAEBLED BUCK. 



does not agree with the account given by Lord Lilford, wlio says, in 

 his paper on the Ornithology of the Ionian Islands, (^'^Ibis, vol. ii, 

 p. 353,) — ''I saw a boy at Butrinto with a mutilated specimen of 

 this rare Duck in his hand, which he had just killed on the lakej 

 he said it was alone when he shot it. I once flushed three Dacks 

 at Phanari which puzzled me very much at the time, but which I 

 have now no doubt belonged to this species; and an officer of the 

 garrison of Corfa described to me a small Duck he had killed near 

 Arta, which I think can have been no other but this. The Marbled 

 Duck is not uncommon in the Island of Sardinia, and very common 

 at Tunis in January and February." Captain Loche mentions its 

 occurrence in the great lakes of Algeria, where we find the word 

 Marmora pedantically enlarged into '^ Marmaronetta angustirostris " 

 according to a paper of Prince C. Bonaparte, in the '^Comptes 

 Pendus." Lake Halloula is given as its locality, but Mr. Tristram 

 looked for it in vain during his visit to that most interesting and 

 productive piece of water. Deputy Surgeon-General Stewart writes 

 to me as follows about this bird: — "I procured a pair of this 

 Duck, hitherto new to the Indian fauna, close to Kurrachee, 

 Tebruary, 1862. There were four or five more in the same flock 

 on a small lake, or rather pool. I thought it was altogether new, 

 but Blyth undeceived me. I have since seen specimens procured in 

 Guzerat, north of Bombay, by Capt. Butler, of the 83rd. regiment." 



Lieut. Col. Irby, in his "Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar," 

 has the following about this bird: — "This Duck on both sides of the 

 Straits appears in spring, to remain only for the breeding season, and 

 is exceedingly abundant in Morocco, where, at the lakes of Ras- 

 Dowra, in April, I saw flocks numbering many hundreds; and they 

 are frequently exposed for sale in Tangier market." 



" Favier says that they arrive during March and April, departing 

 in October, and that after the Common Teal they rank as the most 

 common Duck in the country. On the Spanish side I heard of three 

 being seen at the end of February, and saw six or seven myself on 

 the 23rd. of March, but the majority do not appear until late in 

 April, though I have noticed them on the sea near Gibraltar early 

 in that month. As a rule they all leave by September, but of course 

 stragglers remain later. 



"The Marbled Duck breeds during the last week in May, nesting 

 in patches of rushes. The nest is like that of a Teal, containing 

 a good deal of down from the breast of the female; and eleven 

 eggs appear to be the usual complement. The latter much resemble 

 those of the Common Teal, being of a yellowish-white colour. Favier 



